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Birds

Fossil skeleton of the owl Miosurnia diurna, which was active during the day.

This Ancient Owl Hunted in the Daytime

The fossil evidence fills a gap in these birds’ evolutionary history

One reader wonders how birds stay balanced on tree branches while they’re asleep.   

Ask Smithsonian

How Do Birds Stay Upright When They Are Sleeping?

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Bald eagles are intensely social in spite of also being fierce predators. Some 500 live near the remote fishing port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Planet Positive

The Bald Eagle’s Soaring Return Shows That the U.S. Can Change for the Better

The true meaning of a national symbol

The flamingo in Cox Bay near Port Lavaca, Texas. 

Good News

Flamingo That Escaped From a Zoo in Kansas Is Spotted Once Again in Texas 17 Years Later

The zoo hasn’t made any plans to catch the bird, saying any attempts might harm the flamingo and other wildlife

Geese could have been bred to compensate for a reduction in birds from spring to autumn, according to researchers.

New Study Suggests Geese Were the First Domesticated Birds

Researchers found bones in China that indicate geese were domesticated about 2,000 years before chickens

A feral fox in Australia.

Cats and Foxes Kill 2.6 Billion Animals Per Year in Australia

A new study is the first to quantify the impact the two non-native predators have on local wildlife in the country

Flamingos in the Atacama region of Chile

Mining Lithium for Electric Vehicle Batteries May Threaten Flamingos, a Study Finds

A lake in Chile has seen decreases in two flamingo populations over the last 11 years, which researchers link to lithium mining

An early 18th-century Indian watercolor of a mounted hunter keeping an eye on a bird at the moment of an attack is featured in the show "Falcons: The Art of the Hunt" at the Freer Gallery of Art, part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art.

A Museum Show Takes Visitors on a Hunt for the Birds of Prey Populating Centuries of Artworks

From an ancient Egyptian plaque to a Ming dynasty scroll, explore the central role that falcons and hawks play across cultures and millennia

A greater horseshoe bat can use echolocation to target an insect meal.

Five Amazing Adaptations That Help Animals Thrive in the Dark

From snakes that use infrared radiation to find prey to deep sea fishes that communicate via bioluminescence, these creatures flourish without light

A great tit sitting on a post in Suffolk, England, calls out.

Do Birds Have Language?

In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech

Magpies are highly social and live in groups of two or 12 individuals that defend, occupy, and breed cooperatively.

Sneaky Magpies Outwit Scientists by Removing Tracking Devices

The trackers were supposed to track movement behaviors but instead uncovered an unusual problem-solving behavior

The bat falcon in Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo, Texas

Bat Falcon Is Spotted for the First Time in the United States

Why the bird ventured so far north is a mystery, but the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says the raptor’s range seems to be expanding

Threats like hunting, habitat loss and the pesticide DDT contributed to the bald eagle's decline.

After 35 Years of Recovery Efforts, Bald Eagles Are No Longer Considered Endangered in Vermont

The state first listed the raptors as endangered in 1987

What a male song sparrow sings in each moment is dependent on what he sang 30 minutes ago and suggests that the birds don't have a 'bird brain,' but incredible memory and recall capacities.  

To Impress Lady Birds, Male Sparrows Sing Their Songs on Shuffle

The singers will memorize a 30-minute playlist and remix the order later to avoid losing their lover’s attention

Scientists examined two Kunpengopterus sinensis specimens. The green arrows indicate the pellets and the yellow arrows indicate the isolated fish scales.

Like Owls, Some Prehistoric Flying Reptiles May Have Regurgitated Pellets

The discovery of vomited projectiles from two pterosaurs provides new clues about the its diet and digestive system

Gentoo penguins may become more numerous in parts of Antarctica that were once too icy for the temperate birds. 

New Antarctic Penguin Colonies Discovered Farther South Than Normal

As the climate warms, gentoo penguins are expanding to habitats that were previously too icy for them to raise chicks

People visit the Red Beach, so named due to the Suaeda heteroptera plant which grows across the marshland landscape, in Panjin, China's northeastern Liaoning province.

Moonbows, Starling Migrations and Other Rare Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling For

Being in the right place at the right time makes for an awe-inspiring trip

Mammal and bird losses cut a plant’s ability to adapt to global climate change by 60 percent. Pictured: Cedar waxwing

With Fewer Animals to Move Their Seeds, Plants Are Stuck in Threatened Habitats

For many types of vegetation, the only way to migrate to a more favorable range is through the guts of mammals and birds

A murder of crows flies around an apartment building in downtown Sunnyvale, California.

A California City Overrun With Crows Turns to Lasers and a Boombox to Scare Them Away

City employees will spend an hour every night shining green lasers and playing corvid distress calls to humanely harass the birds into leaving

The barking owl is one of the 53 endangered bird species featured on the album.

Trending Today

Bird Call Album Flies Over Taylor Swift on Australian Pop Charts

Songs of Disappearance soars to the number-three spot as Australians show support for endangered bird species

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